Equine Movement (Hippotherapy) as a treatment tool is currently offered through our community partner empathia speech.

Who Benefits from Equine Movement (Hippotherapy)?

Hippotherapy refers to how a therapist uses medical-quality equine movement as part of the therapy treatment plan. The movement of the horse affects the child's system organization to create readiness for learning (allocation of attention and receptiveness to learning). The therapist uses the horse's movement to promote variations in the child's movement and increased sensory and postural organization. These system changes positively influence learning and communication abilities. Cathy and Autumn’s speech-language therapy sessions also use equine movement to incorporate kinesthetic cues for speech and language, working towards generalization outside of therapy sessions.

medical-quality Equine movement is especially beneficial to suport the following areas:

Breath Support and Postural Control for Speech Production and Longer Sentences
Speech Rate, Cadence/Rhythm, and Clarity
Attention and Task Completion (for Language and Cognitive Processing)

The horse's movement positively affects other areas which impact speech and language:

Body Awareness (Proprioception) and Balance
Core Strength, Integration, and Coordination
Range of Motion
Sensory Integration and Self-Regulation Skills